NORWEGIAN PALAEOENVIRONMENTS AND CLIMATES (NORPEC) AS RECONSTRUCTED FROM LAKE SEDIMENTS

Progress report to NFR; 3
Reporting period; 1.9.2001 - 31.8.2002

Scientific report

1. Progress

NORPEC is proceeding according to the Plan in the original NFR proposal, except that the pollen stipendiat (Anne Bjune) is working 75% for four years from 1.4.2000 to 31.3.2004 instead of 100% for three years as in the original proposal. The other stipendiats (Jostein Bakke, Øyvind Paasche, Aina Dahlø, Marianne Presthus Heggen) are working 100% but started slightly later (1.4.2000, 1.4.2001, 1.5.2001, 1.5.2002, respectively) than originally planned.

Overall the project is proceeding well, with a large amount of successful field work being done in 2001 and 2002, many laboratory analyses are completed or are underway, the NORPEC informal Lake Palaeoenvironmental Research Group has regular two-weekly meetings and seminars during the semesters, the NORPEC project has its own web-page on the Internet (http://www.uib.no/norpec), NORPEC is acting as an effective co-ordination for other researchers in Bergen working on related topics, NORPEC has developed strong and fruitful links with a range of national and international projects, and NORPEC researchers have published internationally and lectured extensively in 2001-2002.

2. Scientific results obtained

Personnel

Besides the eight scientists (H.J.B. Birks, A. Nesje, S.O. Dahl, R. Løvlie, Aa. Paus, T. Solhøy, E. Willassen, M.R. Talbot), three post-doctoral researchers (H.H. Birks (appointed Professor 1.1.2002), S.M. Peglar, J. Larsen), and five NORPEC stipendiats (A.E. Bjune, J. Bakke, Ø. Paasche, A. Dahlø, M.P. Heggen), the NORPEC group also includes three other doctoral stipendiats and four master students. These are:

Cand. scient. Wenche Eide, VISTA-supported, Plant macrofossils, Botanical Institute (supervisor H.H. Birks).

Cand. scient. Gaute Velle, NFR-supported, Chironomid analyses, Zoological Museum (supervisor E. Willassen).

Cand. scient Øyvind Lie, NFR (NORPAST)-supported, Quaternary geology, Geological Institute (supervisor A. Nesje). (Dr. scient. thesis defended May 2002).

Cand. mag. Robert Johannessen, Mite analyses, Zoological Institute (supervisor T. Solhøy).
(Cand. scient. thesis defended February 2002).

B. Sc. Lapager Duoje (University of Lhasa, Tibet). Sediment, plant, and animal analyses, Zoological Institute (supervisors T. Solhøy, H.H. Birks, H.J.B. Birks).

Arquitxu de la Riva Caballero, Mite analyses, Zoological Institute (supervisor T. Solhøy).

Abul Hasnat Md. Raihan Sarker, Mite analyses, Zoological Institute (supervisor T. Solhøy).

Three external researchers are also very active in NORPEC:

Dr Vivienne J. Jones, Diatom analyses, University College London (20%).

Stephen J. Brooks, Chironomid analyses, Natural History Museum, London (20%).

Dr Oliver Heiri, Chironomid analyses, Swiss National Science Foundation, Post-doctoral Fellow in Bergen, August 2001-July 2002 (100%).

Three visiting Marie Curie Ph.D. Fellows at the QPALCLIM and QPALEN training sites participated in NORPEC activities during their stays in Bergen. They were:

Jodie Howe, University of Leeds,UK (2 months)
Marianne Grauert, Copenhagen University (3 months)
Gina Clark, University College London (5 months)

The NORPEC group in 2001-2002 has consisted of 26 researchers from 5 countries.

Research Projects and Progress

Four main research projects are currently underway within NORPEC.

1. Multi-proxy climate reconstructions of the late-glacial and early Holocene (8000-14000 years ago). Co-ordinated by H.H. Birks, and involving S.J. Brooks, V.J. Jones, R. Løvlie, S.M. Peglar, Aage Paus, and T. Solhøy.

Work has continued on the late-glacial sequence from Sumpamyra, Bjerkreim, south Rogaland. Aa. Paus has pollen analysed 113 samples with an average SP of about 1300-1500 per sample from a 2 m long, high-resolution core, centrally positioned on the bog surface. The analysis covers the period from the onset of the late-glacial interstadial warming to the Corylus rise in the early Holocene. No radiocarbon dates exist yet. The pollen diagram starts with a willow-shrub-dominated zone including well-represented Poaceae, Rumex, and Carex type. A Betula-Salix zone follows with grass, sedges, and increasing juniper and Dryas. The subsequent Betula zone, ending the interstadial, includes some juniper, Populus, Ericales, tall-herbs (e.g. Filipendula, Urtica), and decreasing Salix. The Younger Dryas stadial shows low Betula and tall-herbs, and well-represented Huperzia selago and herbs such as Artemisia, Papaver, Koenigia, Saxifraga spp., Oxyria-type, grasses and Cayophyllaceae. The distinct layer of Vedde Ash contains pollen in low concentrations. In the upper part of the diagram, abrupt decreasing herbs and rises of Betula, Juniperus, Populus, and aquatics reflect the onset of the Holocene. Later Corylus, Ulmus, and Quercus distinctly rise.

Two distinct interstadial oscillations of Betula and pioner herbs, showing antagonistic patterns, probably reflect climatic fluctuations. This will be tested by using pollen-climate transfer functions based on pollen and also on analytical results of other fossils (e.g. chironomids). Two subsets from the Sumpamyra pollen results with high and low SP, respectively, have been prepared to test the influence of pollen-sum size on the transfer function results.

Over 50 diatom samples from this core have been analysed by V.J. Jones and marked changes from a Fragilaria-dominated assemblage to an Achnanthes and Navicula assemblage occur within the interstadial. The early Holocene shows a rapid shift to a more acid flora with Eunotia and Aulocoseira appearing for the first time. Conditions in the early Holocene were favourable for the development of a planktonic diatom community, presumably as a result of higher light penetration.

Initial analysis of chironomids by S.J.Brooks is now complete. A total of 60 samples at 4 cm intervals has been analysed. A response to climatic cooling during the Younger Dryas is clearly visible in the midge assemblage between 855-925 cm when the midge fauna is dominated by cold stenothermic taxa such as Micropsectra radialis-type and Paracladius. This is reflected in the chironomid-inferred mean July air temperature estimates which indicate rapid climatic cooling from about 10.50C to about 80C at the beginning of the Younger Dryas and rapid warming in the early Holocene with temperatures rising from about 80C to about 120C. Temperatures appear to have been rather unstable during the Interstadial and these fluctuations will be investigated in more detail. Temperatures in the early Holocene were apparently more stable but a minor cold oscillation indicated at about 840 cm will be examined in more detail.

Macrofossil analyses by Hilary Birks are continuing from a marginal core. Leaves of Salix spp., Betula nana, and Dryas octopetala are being saved for stomatal/cuticular and d13C analyses. Tephras are being analysed below the Vedde Ash (above the Vedde Ash the amount of Vedde tephra obscures the much rarer tephras from other sources) by H. Haflidason (University of Bergen).

The Sumpamyra sediments have provided an excellent magnetic record (R. Løvlie) and palaeomagnetic measurements are providing an important means of detailed correlation between the central core and the marginal core. As plant macrofossil analysis and 14C AMS dating are being done on the marginal core, detailed correlation between the marginal and central cores is essential. Palaeomagnetic and mineral magnetic data from two parallel sediment cores extending ca 150 cm below the Vedde Ash-horizon suggest significant lateral variations in magnetic properties between the two adjacent cores. Palaeomagnetic directions below the Vedde horizon can be correlated in fairly good detail to Kråkenes Lake. Magnetic hysteresis parameters will be acquired in August 2002, before final analysis and palaeoenvironmental interpretations can be made. Analysis of fossil oribatid mites will also be made at this site by T. Solhøy.

Work at Jansvatnet, one of the two late-glacial sites near Hammerfest, Finnmark that were cored in August 2000 has also begun involving pollen (S.M. Peglar), plant macrofossil (H.H. Birks), diatom (V.J. Jones), chironomid (S.J. Brooks), and mite (T. Solhøy) analysis.
Loss-on-ignition analyses are complete. Samples have been taken for pollen, diatom, and chironomid analyses. The cores have been cut into1 cm slices and frozen to await macrofossil, mite, and d13C analyses and radiocarbon dating. 316 diatom samples have been prepared from between 1144-1460 cm in Jansvatnet. The section of the core between 1321-1460 cm is barren of diatoms. Between c. 1308-1320 cm there are few diatoms, the remainder of the samples show a good potential for analysis by V.J. Jones. Sorting and slide mounting of samples for chironomid analysis have begun and so far 10 samples have been completed from this site by S.J. Brooks.

Field work was done in May 2002 by S.J. Brooks, H.H. Birks, H.J.B. Birks, E. Shilland (University College London), and D.J. Benn (University of St Andrews) coring two late-glacial sites in Scotland for fine-resolution chironomid, plant macrofossil, loss-on-ignition, and radiocarbon analyses. This work is supported partly by NORPEC and the NARP POLARCLIM-2 projects and partly by the UK NERC.

Progress within the NORPEC project is going well but all biological analyses of late-glacial material are very time-demanding because fossils are often sparse, special pollen preparation procedures are usually needed, and the sediments can be difficult to analyse.

2. Holocene glacial and climate history of contrasting areas in Norway. Co-ordinated by A. Nesje and S.O. Dahl and involving J. Bakke, Ø. Lie, Ø. Paasche, R. Løvlie, and A.E. Bjune.

Much of the work in this project has been lake coring, field mapping, and laboratory analysis of material from the oceanic Folgefonna peninsula and Hardanger area (J. Bakke, S.O. Dahl), the oceanic Lyngen Alps of northern Norway and the contrasting more continental Skibotndalen area (S.O. Dahl, J. Bakke, Ø. Paasche, A.E. Bjune), and in the continental Dovre and Rondane mountains (Ø. Lie, S.O. Dahl, A. Nesje, Ø. Paasche).

In northern Norway seven lakes have been cored to provide a basic for reconstructing the deglaciation history of the area, for reconstructing the Holocene glacial history of the Lyngen Alps, and for reconstructing Holocene summer temperature from biological archives (see Project 3 below). Geomorphological mapping and lake bathymetric surveys have also been done and completed in Lyngen.

Eight lakes have been cored in the Folgefonna/Hardanger area and some of these cores will also be used for palaeomagnetic studies by R. Løvlie and for biological analyses by A. Bjune and G. Velle.

Mapping and field work have also been done in Rondane and Dovre, including instrumental monitoring of an ice-cored moraine at Snøhetta and a rock glacier in Rondane.

During the winter J. Bakke finished all the analysis (LOI, Sedigraph and magnetic properties) of two cores from Aspvatn (Lyngen) and two cores from Dravladalsvatn and Goddalsvatn (Folgefonna). Lithomagnetic parameters of the cores from Aspevatn remain to be compared with other relevant environmental parameters (R. Løvlie). Bakke also measured magnetic properties at Elvejordsvatnet, Fjellandsbøvatnet, Buervatnet, and Matrevatn. All the necessary samples for radiocarbon dating have been submitted to either Poland or Trondheim.

Laboratory work with the Fiskevatnet (Lyngen) core has been completed by Ø. Paasche and R. Løvlie, and seven macrofossil samples have been sent to Poland for radiocarbon-dating. The nature of the palaeomagnetic analyses is of an "environmental magnetism" approach, which means recognition of (I) sediment source, (II) sediment change, (III) possible relations to climate change, and (IV) the potential of magnetotactic bacteria in lacustrine sediments. One core from Fiskevatnet has been continuously sampled, and selected mineral magnetic parameters obtained. This study was initiated after preliminary results indicated the presence of magnetosomes (relicts of magnetotactic bacteria) in certain intervals. Magnetosomes may represent a sensitive proxy for high productivity (among several other factors). Magnetic hysteresis parameters, that may yield conclusive evidence for magnetosomes, will be obtained soon.

Other laboratory analyses of cores from Trollvatnet by Ø. Paasche are currently underway but have been delayed because of equipment breakdown. Samples have been submitted for radiocarbon dating.

Mineral-magnetic data from two parallel cores from Fjellandsbøvatnet are being obtained in order to assess variations in glacial-derived input. Data from one core are complete, and work on the other core started in August 2002. This study is an MSc-project done by the Chinese student Si Guangying in conjunction with R. Løvlie.

The progress in this project is excellent, and both J. Bakke and Ø. Paasche have made important new discoveries about the Holocene glacial history of Norway. They are making good progress on writing up some of these results.

3. Holocene climate history reconstructed from biological proxies. Co-ordinated by H.J.B. Birks and involving A.E. Bjune, S.M. Peglar, J. Larsen, W. Eide, G. Velle, E. Willassen, A. Dahlø, M.R. Talbot, M.P. Heggen, G. Clarke, and A. de la Riva Caballero.

The pollen analysis (A.E. Bjune) from the core from Trettetjønn, Upsete has been finished and quantitative climate reconstructions made. A total of 26 macrofossil samples from this core has been analysed supplementing the pollen diagram. The early Holocene is characterised by pioneer vegetation with Ericaceae, Salix herbacea, and Hippophaë rhamnoides, later being followed by grassland with scattered trees. Between ca. 8200 and 5100 cal. yr BP both the pollen and the macrofossils show the presence of a mixed forest of Alnus, Betula, and Pinus indicting a tree-line position 100-150 m higher than at present. This time period has a reconstructed July temperature above 120C and the loss-on-ignition is high. After ca. 5100 cal. yr BP the July temperature decreases and January temperature increases as well as the annual precipitation, showed by the increase in fern spores and Rumex-species, grasses and sedges. An age-depth model has not yet been made as the final dating results from Laboratoriet for Radiologisk Datering in Trondheim have just been obtained.

The Holocene diatom stratigraphy in Trettetjønn, has been studied by J. Larsen. In several sediment levels above the warmest and driest period in Holocene (as indicated by the pollen and macrofossil content in the core) and until today, diatoms are absent. This is possibly due to physical or chemical factors changing within the lake system as the climate changed. Data gathered from the trap project (see below) may give information about this diatom-climate relationship. Fossil mites have also been analysed from the core by Arguitxu de la Riva Caballero and Torstein Solhøy.

Jorunn Larsen put a diatom trap out in Trettetjønn in autumn 2001 to study the link between diatoms and environmental factors that are responsible for their growth. From spring 2002 the trap has been emptied every fourteen days together with samples from the water column as diatoms can bloom within days or weeks. At the same time water has been sampled together with variables such as Secchi depth and temperature. The sampling will continue for the rest of the season.

In the autumn of 2001, an excellent set of cores was obtained from Vestre Øykjamyrtjønn near Matre, Folgefonna for biological analyses. Loss-on-ignition has been done for the whole core (~450 samples from both the late-Glacial and Holocene part of the core). In the late-Glacial part the Vedde Ash layer is evident and gives a good dating horizon in the core. The vegetation at the site before the Vedde Ash is dominated by Ericaceae, Rumex-species, Oxyria digyna, Artemisia (incl. A. norvegica), as well as other herbs and grasses. From the beginning of the Holocene the vegetation developed from heathland into Betula-Juniperus-Pinus forest that later also contained broad-leaved trees. During the late Holocene the landscape became more open again, and the values of grasses, sedges, and herbs increased. The resolution of the core is very good and the results are very promising, being one of the few known late-Glacial sites in this area. The analysis of the macrofossils from the core has started, and 12 samples of terrestrial plant macrofossils for radiocarbon dating have been submitted.

Loss-on-ignition from the core from Barheivatnet in Lyngen has been performed by A.E. Bjune for every ½ cm in the basal part and every 1 cm through the rest of the core. Pollen, diatom, and chironomid samples have been sampled from this core. Samples will be taken during the autumn for radiocarbon dating. Analyses here and at Skibotndalen are being done to provide Holocene summer temperature reconstructions for Project 2 above.

Limnological responses to "Little Ice Age" climatic changes are being investigated by J. Larsen at Råtåsjøen, Brurskardstjønn, Trettetjønn, Vestre Øykjamyrtjønn, and Bukkehammerstjønn through very fine resolution (2.5 mm) diatom and loss-on-ignition analyses. Analyses from Råtåsjøen and Bukkerhammarstjønn are now completed but numerical analyses and dating are still to be done at the latter site.

Work on stable isotopes of oxygen and nitrogen in lake sediments by Aina Dahlø and M.R. Talbot is now well underway. A 3.1 m core raised from Ulltvedttjern, Ringerike, in late summer 2001 is the first long core taken for proxy palaeoclimatic studies from any carbonate-precipitating lake in Norway. Initial analyses suggest that the core should provide an excellent high-resolution palaeoclimatic record. At the base of the core the sediments are carbonate-poor, proglacial (?) silts, but the rest of the record to the present-day contains 2-50% (based upon LOI analysis) finely crystalline calcite precipitated from the water column ("lake marl"). In some parts of the sequence the calcite occurs as mm-scale laminae alternating with carbonate-poor lamina. These couplets probably represent one year's accumulation (nonglacial varves), but the varved record is not continuous, being interrupted by poorly laminated and in parts bioturbated deposits. The calcite is ideal for stable isotope studies and to date 68C and O analyses have been carried out. d18O values are mainly in the range of -9 to -10 per mille which are typical for lake in Ulltvedttjern's geographical setting, but systematic variations in isotopic composition, and a marked covariance between d18O and d13C, indicate that the carbonate is preserving a sensitive record of changes in basin hydrology. Planned AMS dates from several levels in the core will provide a chronology for these variations.

In March 2002 a 5.74 m long core was raised from Nattmålsvatn in Troms. The sediments proved - unexpectedly - to be more-or-less devoid of carbonate. They are, however, rich in well-preserved aquatic organic matter (60 to 75% based upon LOI analyses) which should yield an excellent stable isotopic record (C,N) of variations in nutrient cycling and primary production in this lake. Such changes are typically closely linked to regional climatic variations and we thus anticipate that the core will yield a unique, high-resolution record of environmental change in northern Norway. Fieldwork at Nattmålsvatn in July 2002 revealed that abundant carbonate is being produced in the lake, so its absence from the sediments must be due to unfavourable preservation conditions. Similar effects are known from carbonate-precipitating Alpine lakes where prolonged seasonal ice cover allows the development of anoxic conditions and a CO2-rich, low pH water-column. Seasonal anoxia of this sort probably explains the absence of carbonate and excellent preservation of organic matter in the Nattmålsvatn sediments.

Sylvia Peglar's pollen analytical studies of sites along a transect from Oslo to Trondheim as part of the NFR NORPAST project have provided important data relevant for this NORPEC project, in particular her studies at Kinnshaugen, Oppland (591 m elevation), Måsåtjørna, Oppland (841 m), and Afstjørna, Oppland (991 m) provide insights into forest compositional change at or near tree-line and into Holocene climatic changes. She has now completed pollen analyses from three sites west of the main mountain change from near Rindal to Hitra. The three sites all show a similar sequence of vegetation history with the dominance of fern spores (Dryopteris-type) and Betula and Juniperus communis pollen early in the Holocene. Pinus sylvestris, with Corylus avellana at the more coastal sites, then expands, followed by Alnus. Ulmus was probably also part of the woodland around the sites with scattered trees of Quercus. Towards the tops of the sequences Picea abies appears although at very low values, and there is the development of heathland. At the Hitra site particularly, there is evidence of human impact with the establishment of Calluna vulgaris heath. These sites differ from the previous sites analysed from the southeastern part of the transect in the prevalence of fern spores and Alnus pollen associated with their oceanicity.

A further site, Ulltvedttjønn from south-eastern Norway, covering the whole of the Holocene, has also been pollen analysed. Aina Dahlø is doing isotope analyses on this site as part of NORPEC. The pollen has been done to determine the vegetational development within the catchment, and to provide a dating framework for the site by comparing the pollen sequence with that of nearby transect lakes which have been radiocarbon dated. This is necessary as Ulltvedttjønn is a carbon-rich lake unsuitable for 14C dating of bulk sediment due to the inclusion of old carbon.

Pollen analysis has also been made on further surface samples from the northwestern part of the transect, to improve the training set for producing pollen/climate transfer functions for the reconstruction of various climatic parameters.

Good sequences of AMS dates on small bulk sediment samples have been received from four sites submitted in 2001 (Morttjenn, Måsåtjørnet, Haugtjern, and Afstjørna) and age/depth models developed. A further 22 samples from the lakes analysed in 2002 have been submitted for radiocarbon dating.

Marianne Presthus Heggen began her NORPEC stipendiat in May 2002 to work on fossil oribatid mites as palaeoenvironmental indicators. She has defined and sampled one transect of 17 km, starting at Matre in Matersforden, ranging up towards Folgefonna at Inste Botnane (850 m a.s.l.), following Blådalselvi. 23 samples have been collected from 7 localities. Present-day samples have also been gathered around Brurskardtjønn in Jotunheimen, Oppland. A total of 26 samples were collected from two transects. In addition, present-day samples have been collected in Lyngen, Troms.

Wenche Eide's plant macrofossil analyses supported by VISTA at sites in Dovre (Afstjørna (991 m), Gåvålivatnet (939 m), Råtåsjøen (1169 m), Hornsjøen (1261 m), and Snøheim (1474 m)) are similarly providing important data relevant to this NORPEC project, in that they provide evidence for changes in tree altitudinal extent and hence in climate during the Holocene. Mite analysis will also be made from these cores by Marianne P. Heggen as part of her NORPEC stipendiat.

Gaute Velle's work on chironomids preserved in lake sediments is providing a basis for reconstructing summer temperatures in Dovre, Jotunheimen, and the Folgefonna area. He has also completed a detailed multi-proxy study at Lake Spåime in mid-central Sweden in conjunction with Dan Hammerlund et al. (Lund).

Work has continued on the essential task of taxonomic harmonisation and analytical quality control to ensure consistency and comparability in the pollen, diatom, and chironomid analyses within NORPEC and related projects.

4. Modern calibration data-sets. Co-ordinated by H.J.B. Birks and involving S.J. Brooks, O. Heiri, G. Velle, S.M. Peglar, A.E. Bjune, V.J. Jones, J. Larsen, G. Clarke, and T. Solhøy.

Sylvia Peglar has completed pollen analyses of an additional 50 surface samples to supplement the coverage of the existing modern Norwegian pollen-climate data-set, especially in southern and central Norway.

Jorunn Larsen, Viv Jones, Gina Clarke (University College London), Roy Thompson (Edinburgh), and H.J.B. Birks are working on the development of a diatom-lake ice-cover calibration data-set.

Steve Brooks and H.J.B. Birks are currently completing the writing up of a 157-lake chironomid-climate calibration data-set for Norway to reconstruct mean July air and lake-water temperatures from fossil chironomid assemblages. Oliver Heiri, as part of his Swiss NSF post-doctoral fellowship, investigated the inherent variability in sub-fossil chironomid assemblages within lakes, and showed that within-lake variability represents about 25 % of the total root mean square error of prediction in the Norwegian chironomid-air temperature calibration model.

Surface samples have also been collected for mite analyses from a range of sites in western and central Norway. Over 750 samples have been collected.

Other doctoral stipendiat activities

Besides field work and laboratory analyses, the NORPEC stipendiats have taken various national and international courses as part of their doctoral programmes. NORPEC has a regular seminar series in which all the stipendiats play a major role.

Gaute Velle, Wenche Eide, Oliver Heiri, Øyvind Paasche, Jorunn Larsen, Gina Clarke, Anne Bjune, Jostein Bakke, and Øyvind Lie have given presentations at national and/or international meetings and have attended international courses, workshops, or symposia.

4. Scientific and other publications by NORPEC scientists September 2001 - August 2002

2 Books
38 Papers in peer-reviewed literature and book chapters
2 Reports
12 Published abstracts
10 Popular science articles
21 TV/Radio presentations and newspaper articles
33 Papers presented at scientific meetings, etc.

World Wide Web

NORPEC has its own home page at http://www.uib.no/norpec.

Anne Bjune, Jorunn Larsen, Wenche Eide, John Birks, and Hilary Birks are currently developing web pages attached to the Botanical Institute's web site that will give popular scientific presentations of their work.

Other activities

M.R. Talbot is the co-ordinator of Euro-Ideal, an EU-funded network and is European representative on the ICDP lake-drilling advisory panel.

A.E. Bjune, W. Eide, H.J.B. Birks, S.M. Peglar, J. Larsen, K.L. Hjelle, and H.H. Birks organised and led an excursion of over 35 international Quaternary palaeoecologists around western Norway in August 2002. A. Nesje was a leader for one day, and Gina Clarke also presented her work in Dovre.

H.J.B. Birks is the co-ordinator of two EU Marie Curie Training Sites (QPALCLIM and QPALEN), and the Nordic Arctic Research Programme POLARCLIM-2 project.

H.H. Birks, A. Nesje, H.J.B. Birks, and S.O. Dahl have been involved in designing and preparing parts of the new NFR NORPAST-2 project to be co-ordinated by Morten Hald (Tromsø).

Three members of NORPEC successfully defended their theses in 2002 - Øyvind Lie (Dr. scient.), Robert A. Johannessen (Cand. scient.), and Lapager Duoje (M. Sc).

Torstein Solhøy has been appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Lhasa, Tibet.

Hilary H. Birks has been appointed Professor of Quaternary Palaeoecology in the Botanical Institute, University of Bergen.

NORPEC members contributed three chapters to the new 4-volume set on Tracking Environmental Change using Lake Sediments edited by J.P. Smol, W.M. Last, and H.J.B. Birks. These 4 volumes promise to be the methodological reference-work for the next decade in Quaternary palaeoecology and palaeolimnology.

NORPEC members also contributed over 90 entries to The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Environmental Change edited by J.A. Matthews.

Research collaboration

NORPEC has good links with the NFR-supported NORPAST and NoCLIM projects and with the VISTA programme on Climate Archives. Several members of NORPEC are part of the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen and of the EU Marie Curie Training Sites QPALEN and QPALCLIM. NORPEC is also linked to the Nordic Arctic Research Programme POLARCLIM project.

There is close NORPEC research collaboration with the following individuals:

N.J. Anderson University of Copenhagen
C.K. Ballantyne University of St. Andrews
R.W. Battarbee University College London
V. Behan-Pelletier Agriculture, Canada
F. Bernini Siena University
L.H. Blikra NGU, Trondheim
S. Bondevik University of Tromsø
E. Brook University of Washington
G. Clarke University College London
S. Coulson John Moores University, Liverpool
L. Dumayne University of Birmingham
S. Gulliksen Nasjonal Laboratoriet for 14C dating, Trondheim
M. Hughes University College London
E. Jansen University of Bergen
S. Juggins University of Newcastle
A. Korhola University of Helsinki
Ø. Lohne University of Bergen
A.F. Lotter University of Utrecht
S. Mangerud University of Bergen
J.A. Matthews University of Wales, Swansea
D. McCarroll University of Wales, Swansea
R. Niemi University of Turku
Ø. Nordli DNMI, Oslo
R. Norton University of Syracuse
M. Nyman University of Helsinki
G. Possnert Svedberg Laboratory, Uppsala
S. Sabias University of Madrid
H. Schatz University of Innsbruck
A. & S. Seniczak Bydgoszcz, Poland
H. Seppä University of Uppsala
K. Sletten NGU, Trondheim
C.J.F. ter Braak Biometry Centre, Wageningen
R. Thompson University of Edinburgh
H.F. Wang University of Beijing
J. Weckström University of Helsinki
S. Winkler University of Würtzburg